by Louise Doyle
l.doyle@donegalnews.com
“OUR hearts are broken. Our lives have been shattered beyond belief and our world has been turned upside down since her death.”
Those were the words of devastated Letterkenny mother, Helen Johnston, as today (Friday) marks the painful first anniversary of the death of her beautiful teenage daughter, Tory.
The 17-year-old from Bomany, Letterkenny, who was a fifth year student at Loreto Secondary School, collapsed at Voodoo Nightclub on the morning of July 15, 2015.
An ambulance was called and it is understood Tory appeared to be all right again, but minutes later she suffered another seizure and was taken by ambulance to Letterkenny University Hospital, where she tragically later died at 6.30am.
Investigations, to date, have not determined the cause of Tory’s death.
Speaking to the Donegal News yesterday, (Thursday), Mrs Johnston made an emotional appeal for anyone with any information in to the circumstances of her daughter’s death to come forward.
Her plea came as Gardai on Wednesday evening renewed their calls for information.
Describing the void in her family’s life over the last year without their beloved Tory, Mrs Johnston said: “It’s so hard on us, Tory was a great girl. Our hearts are broken. Our lives have been shattered beyond belief and our world has been turned upside down since her death.
“Tory was a very kind person. She had just been made prefect at school and we were so pleased for her. She had wanted to go on to become a dental hygienist after her studies.
“We were all very close as a family. Tory was very close with her sister, Amy, and her friends were all very important to her in her life.”
Mrs Johnston said she hopes the appeal will encourage anyone with any information to come forward in a bid to help ease their pain.
“We still have no reason or understanding of what happened to Tory. We hope this appeal will trigger someone, anyone, with any information to come forward.
“Please if anyone has any information, please, please come forward.”
Elsewhere, Gardai say they believe some of those who attended Voodoo Nightclub at the time of Tory’s death have not yet come forward to assist with the investigation.
They have renewed their calls for information and have set up a confidential telephone line.
In a statement, a Garda spokesperson said: “Gardai wish to thank all those who came forward and assisted during the course of the investigation.
“However, it is believed other people who attended Voodoo Nightclub on the morning of Tory’s death have yet to come forward to assist with this investigation.
“Anybody who has information which may assist and explain why Tory died is asked to come forward by contacting the Incident Room at Letterkenny Garda Station on 074 9167100 or if they wish to remain anonymous they can call the Garda Confidential Telephone line on 1800 666 111.
“Any assistance will be greatly appreciated and callers will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.”
Voodoo, Letterkenny.
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